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> <^:^^^ y Cpmmrodor. THE MAGAZINE OP THE UONOÜRABLE SOCIETY OF CYMMRODOPJON. VOL. XXII. LONDON : ISSUED BY THE SOCIETY, NEW STONE BUILDINGS, 64, CHANCERY LANE. 1910. qoo (29 Devizes: PRINTED BY GEOBGE SlMPSON. CONTENTS. The Foreign Aspect of the Welsh Records. By Hubert Hall, F.S.A. ... ... ... ... 1 Parochiale Wallicaaum. By the Rev. A. W. Wade-Evans 22 Note on St. David ... ... 114 Primitive Saints of Wales (List) ... 119 Patrons of Welsh Benefices (List) ... 122 The Chronology of Arthur. By the Rev. A. W. Wade- EvANS ... ... ... ... ... 125 Caw of Pictland (Notf) ... ... 140 The Chronology of St. David (Note) 144 " Gormund and Isembard : A Postscript to The Yandals in Wessex". By E. Williams B. Nicholson, M.A. 150 Geoige Borrow's Second Tour in Wales. By T. C. Cantrii-l, B.Sc, and J. Pringle ... ... 160 " On the Seventeenth Century Ballad : A Warning for all Murderers ". By William E. A. Axon, LL.D. ... 171 V Cçmmraíí0r. VoL. XXII. "Cared doeth ye encilion." 1910. tÇe Jordgn (g^pecí of íÇe 13?de^ By HUBERT HALL, F.S.A., OfH.M. Public Record Office. Director of the Royal Historical Society, and Reader in Palceography in the TJniversity of London. The modern science of History has been so rigorously shaped by acadeniic method and so deeply overlaid with materials from newly-discovered sources that some dis- crimination is needed in discussin^ the most trivial aspects of its study. Again, the rival claims of Universal History (with its huge excrescence known as Sociology) of General History (with its invitation to include the history of every science or art within our ken) of Political, Con- stitutional, Legal, Ecclesiastical, Naval and Military, Economic and Social History, and even the well-defìned and exacting auxiliary sciences of History in the shape of Bibliography, Method, Linguistic, Palseography and Diplo- matic, Archseology and the other hard terms with which the studies of coins and medals, seals, dates and pedigrees are labelled by the learned, have each to be duly con- a sidered even by those who aspire to no more than raodest knowledge of the history of their own country. B 2 The Foreign Aspcct of thc U^clsh Rccords. Iii truth this study of the Natioual History has diffi- culties enough of its owu to present to the rash intruder, even when he is fully equipped with a panoply of histori- cal science, auxiliai-y or otherwise. In the first place there is the historical literature to be considered, and in the second place the sources have to be reckoned with. It is perhaps to the conflicting interests of these two elenients that most of our difficulties may be attributed. On the one hand, a sense of honour requires us to do justice to the authors and editors who have ah-eady laboured on our behalf in this field of study, even if we are not disposed to the authorities. the other rely entirely upon printed On hand, the instinct of self-preservation enjoins us to keep a wary eye upon unpublished sources. If there were no printed literature to be considered, we should be free to devote ourselves to a systematic ejcamina- tion of the original sources, and if the sources were already utilized or even, as formerly, inaccessible to historical students, we should at least have more time to spare for profitable reading or textual criticism. As it is tlie modern student must divide his attention between tlie two methods with results which are not favourable to his rapid prog-ress in the advanced study of National History. It must be admitted that in certain continental States and in America the excellence of the arningements made for tlie classitìcation, description and publication of tlie ori- ginal sources has greatly reduced the extent of tliese initial difficulties. That we ourselves are less fortunate in this respect, is a suggestion that has frequently been made in recent years and supported by striking instances. It has been represented to us tliat tlie style and subject matter of our historical publications is chiefly influenced by com- mercial considerations and that the arranirement of our Archives is the regret of foreign students. Possibly there The Foreign Aspect of the Welsh Records. 3 is some foundation for both assertions. Tlie raison d^étre of a majoritj of historical works is not obvious on any other supposition tlian tliat they are marketable wares, though this is a reproach which may be shared by the historical literature of every country during the past and present generations. Again it is scarcely to be expected tliat the profession of an archiyist should be recognized in a country in which the very nanie and science of the Archives are unknown. At the same time the position is one that should be fairly faced. Both the literature of history and its sources are equally available for our use and profit. After elimin- ating all that is useless or unworthy from the former, there is still left a large residue of really valuable works. In respect of General History and certain aspects of National History we are richly provided for, whilst tlie Auxiliary Studies furnish almost an embarrassment of wealth. A profitable use of this valuable historical literature mig-ht be greatly facilitated by the preparation of a really select Bibliography, which is perhaps the most immediate need of historical students. Indeed, printed books may be regarded properly as reproductions of the sources or as containing observations of historical facts. Hitherto, Iiow- ever, the science of Bibliography has been influenced by bibliophiles to whom the quality of the printed book is of less importance than its form or pedigree. Even wlien a process of selection has been attempted, the titles of many works wliicli might have been tacitly ignored are included, for no other practical purpose than to serve as examples of authorities which appear to the compiler as "of little value". But precious space might surely be confined to a selected list of necessary or useful titles. Another ad^antasfe of the methodical treatment of our printed sources is found in respect of their co-ordination b2 4 The Foreign Aspect of the Welsh Records. with the unpubUshed manuscript. A good Bibliography should indicate approxiniately what sources remain un- published, just as an adequate Guide to iiistorical manu- literature of the several scripts wiU mention the printed series. If this elementary definition of Historical Method were accepted and acted on, we should have little need to trouble ourselves about the ways and means of studying National History which, in one aspect or another, is the chief interest of niodern historical scholarship. There is, however, still another consideration which must be duly regarded by the intending student of his own national History, besides the state of the materials at his disposal. The title of his subject is sufficiently explicit, and yet it is a title that may need to be maintained against prejudice or prescription. And not tlie title only may be lacking. Conquest or fusion may have caused thenianu- script sources of national history to perish or become inacessible. Herein the fortune of nations has seemingly varied. Poland has ceased to be a nation, but lier national archives have been carefully preserved. HoUand and Belgium be- came kingdoms in recent times, and local muniments straightway became Departmental Archives. Ireland, as a lordship and as a subject kingdom, kept her national Records, wliilst Scotland, a neighbour State, lost many that were carried to London as tlie spoils of war. Year by year French scholars visit our Archives to consult Records re- moved by the English armies when they evacuated Caen and Bordeaux. Tlie case of Wales is a peculiar one. Here the national Records are no longer preserved in tlie Princi- pality. Such as may have existed prior to 1284 have long since perished. Prom Edward I's conquest to Henry YIII's annexation, the Welsh judicial Records have been fitfully preserved witli the surviving Assize Holls of the English The Foreign Aspect of the Welsh Records. 5 Courts. From 1542 to 1830, however, tlie position was soinewhat reversed. The Records of the General Sessions of Wales were preserved in local repositories^ whilst the English Assize Rolls since the Tudor period have perished in the custody of Clerks of the Assizes. Moreover, aniongst these Welsh judicial Records there was pre- served a vast mass of subsidiarj documents, many of which throw welcome light upon the economic and social con- dition of the country. In 1854 these Welsh Records, which include those of the palatinate of Chester, were removed to London, a decisison which is perhaps to be regretted in the interests of the students of Eng-lish and Welsh history alike. This bulky transmission presumably occupied the space that should have been imniediately filled by out-lying En^lish Eecords, including those of the palatinates of Durham and of Ely, and a countless collection of departmental Records, dating from the twelfth century to the nineteenth, some of which are still outstanding whilst still more are known to have perished within living memory. In any case these regrets are useless, and any specu- lations as to the different fate wliich might have be- fallen the Welsh local Eecords, since the regeneration of Wales, do not concern a Saxon essayist. It remains only to notice, as the sequel, this inexorable fact. In both Scotland and Ireland the retention of the national archives carried with it the privilege of publish- ing a considerable portion of their contents in an official series. The loss of this prestige might therefore be 1 There is a persistent tradition that many early Welsh Records were removed from Carnarvon to Westminster in the eighteenth cen- of Welsh Records now in- tury, and certainly the acquisition many has never been corporated in the English Series satisfactorily explained.

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